GOP hopeful Mitt Romney has been criticized for not connecting with everyday folks. But his son Josh, a father of three himself, wants America to know his father Mitt  is both “passionate and compassionate.” 

Josh, one of Mitt’s five sons, has been on the road campaigning for his father in recent weeks. He’s covered most of the western United States, most recently focusing on Washington State, ahead of Saturday’s caucuses.

Josh says “It’s a lot of fun to be out and talk about my Dad and try and help voters to get a different side of him, who he is as a dad and a family man, to really see the real Mitt Romney.”

This isn’t the first time Josh has helped his dad to run for the oval office. He confessed his family has learned a few lessons since his father’s 2008 campaign.

“We have been through this once before. You know that you are going to get attacked from all sides. So, I have gotten a lot better at tuning it out and not paying much attention to it. I know who my Dad is. He knows who he is and that is what really matters at the end of the day.” 

Josh added that the most important thing to his father is his family. But he believes it’s his father’s experience in the private sector that truly validates his run. (read more)

Influential conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart says this CPAC has the potential to play a big role in the 2012 presidential race. Breitbart called it an "X-factor in this election cycle."

He says the crowds as CPAC are a smart group. In fact, he commends them for being "more informed than me on the politics." But, Breitbart doesn't feel as fondly about the candidates remaining in the GOP presidential race. He says "none of the candidates left excite him."

Breitbart calls former House Speaker Newt Gingrich "damaged goods." And he says that people are misreading Gingrich's win in South Carolina as a nod from the Tea Party. Breitbart calls Gingrich a "proxy" who won the anti Mitt Romney vote.

As for Rommney, Breitbart says he needs to use CPAC to "get in the trenches" and get in touch with the Tea Party voters who are responsible for change in the Republican party. Breitbart claims Romney is "managing his campaign from afar."

Breitbart, also sees CPAC as a potential "game changer" for former Senator Rick Santorum. Breitbart says Santorum doesn't "recognize the media is everything" in this election. He says Santorum needs to use the media to emotionally connect with voters and continue the momentum he picked up in Colorado, Missouri and Minnesota. (read more)

Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty admits he has regrets regarding his 2012 Presidential bid. Saturday on "America's News Headquarters," Governor Pawlenty said his regrets are related to quote, "tactical decisions."

"We took it as far as I could with my race and our resources," said Pawlenty. "We didn't get it done, obviously."

The former presidential candidate ended his campaign last August after finishing third in the Iowa straw polls. Shortly after that third place finish, Pawlenty endorsed Governor Mitt Romney despite his earlier criticisms on Romney's healthcare law.

During an appearance on "Fox News Sunday" last June, Pawlenty told Chris Wallace, "President Obama said that he designed Obamacare after Romneycare and basically made it Obamneycare."

Pawlenty now actively campaigns for Romney. He says Romney is the most capable, knowledgeable, and electable candidate.

The controversy surrounding the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation and Planned Parenthood may become a launching pad to discuss the issue of abortion in upcoming elections.

Friday, The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation reversed their decision to cut funding to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screening after four days of debate. In a paper statement Komen founder and CEO Ambassador Nancy Brinker wrote, "We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not. Our only goal for our granting process is to support women and families in the fight against breast cancer."

Whether or not the original decision to cut funding was meant to be political, the issue of abortion is one that all presidential candidates will eventually have to confront. All of the GOP 2012 candidates are pro-life.

Early on in his political career, former Massachusetts, Gov. Mitt Romney supported a woman's right to choose. But now, Romney says Roe v. Wade should be reversed. He believes state law should guide abortion rights, and is on record supporting moves aimed at de-funding Planned Parenthood. (read more)

Iowa Congressman and Tea Party favorite Steve King says he was "more than 50-50" on endorsing a presidential candidate, but something held him back.

"I was 90-10, but as the race unfolded, none of the candidates actually captured me in a way that I was eager to step up and defend just their positions," said King on Power Play Friday.

Several GOP hopefuls actively sought King's endorsement in the lead-up to the Iowa Caucuses. But King, a Tea Party Caucus member says, "I didn't quite hear that presidential candidate that gave the shining "city on the hill" speech that described for us the next level of destiny for America."

King says after the South Carolina Primary, he had conversations with South Carolina Congressman Tim Scott about the difficulty Scott also had making the decision not to endorse anyone.

King added that each of the remaining candidates has a lot to offer.

For more on Rep. King's reaction, check out the video below:

Texas Governor Rick Perry is now continuing on with his run for the GOP nomination for presidency, just hours after saying he was going to take time to "reassess" the campaign.

Perry placed a distant fifth in Iowa's caucuses Wednesday night and said he was going to return to Texas "to determine whether there is a path forward" for his White House bid after he finished a distant fifth in the Iowa caucuses."

Many in the political universe took that to mean he was likely going to drop out, having sagged in poll ratings after an initial surge at the top of the polls when he jumped in the race in August.

He then sent a tweet Wednesday morning that read, "Here we come South Carolina!!!" causing much confusion about the direction of the campaign. Attached to the tweet was a photo of Perry smiling while on a jog in front of a lake, giving a thumbs up.

Campaign aides told Fox after the tweet that they weren't sure what it meant.

But then later, a source said, "He is taking two days off, that he deserves, then to NH for debates, then full court press in SC starting Sunday afternoon." (read more)

He may not be considered the most socially conservative candidate in the Republican race for president, but Iowa conservative radio host Steve Deace says Newt Gingrich is the only candidate that can get things done.

"For all his flaws, he understands historically what the left has used the judicial branch to do to this country," Deace told Fox News Saturday

"The first thing I believe must be done is re-establish the rule of law in this country and we cannot have that without the constitutional separation of power that Newt Gingrich has talked about," Deace added.

Deace said he had narrowed his options down to Gingrich and Texas Congressman Ron Paul, but he says Paul's foreign policy is "naïve at best and reckless at worst."

When asked why he didn't choose someone more socially conservative, Deace replied that while those issues are important, "If we wait around for everybody to say how pro life they are and 40 years for the courts to overturn their own Roe versus Wade precedent we'll be waiting for abortion to end in this country until Jesus returns."

"We have to confront an out of control judiciary branch once and for all," Deace said.

A day after singling out Rick Santorum as a "prolific earmarker," Rick Perry stepped up his assault on the former Pennsylvania Senator.

During a campaign stop Friday in Waterloo, Iowa, Perry fired off a double barreled blast. "Senator Santorum, just to get a little more specific here, please tell me why you asked taxpayers to support the bridge to nowhere in Alaska. Why did you ask the taxpayers of Iowa to support a teapot museum in North Carolina. Why were those important enough for you to vote for?"

Perry didn't stop there. "Not only that, you voted to raise the debt ceiling 8 times while in the United States Senate- more than doubling the debt in this country from 4.8 trillion to 9 trillion dollars. And I got to ask you, how is that fiscally conservative? Asking a Washington insider to stop runaway spending is like asking a bank robber to guard the vault."

Santorum has been recently surging in Iowa, but a new NBC/Marist poll released Friday shows Perry is within striking distance with 14%. That's just one point behind Santorum.

Both candidates are competing with Congresswoman Michele Bachman for the support of evangelicals, a critical bloc of caucus-goers in the Hawkeye State.

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Economy

newt gingrich

2012

Mitt Romney

Barack Obama

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Newt Gingrich's 15-point national lead has collapsed and the GOP presidential candidate is now in a statistical dead heat with Republican rival Mitt Romney, according to a new Gallup tracking poll out Monday.

The former Speaker of the House is now ahead of Romney by only 26 percent to 24 percent, among GOP voters and GOP leaning independent voters. However, Gingrich's decline has not meant an overwhelming increase in support for the former Massachusetts Governor, and shows that no single candidate has benefited proportionately more from Gingrich's drop. (read more)